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The San Diego Legion will have a shot at redemption on Saturday afternoon as they host the SaberCats in Chula Vista. Houston were 34-32 winners when the two sides clashed at AVEVA Stadium in April. It was the first win for the Cats over the Legion in four attempts.
Both teams have been frustrated this campaign and are on the lower half of the Western Conference. Houston have just two wins from their nine games, with San Diego going one better. With two extra bonus points, however, the Legion are just seven points back of a playoff spot.
San Diego are coming off their first bye week of the season and have made three changes to the starting team that thrashed NOLA, all in the forwards. Ben Mitchell rotates in at lock for Siaosi Mahoni, while Jasa Veremalua wears the No8 shirt for the first time in place of Tevita Tameilau. Keni Nasoqeqe returns from injury to fill the space on the bench.
The most significant alteration is in the front row where former Wallabies prop Paddy Ryan makes his anticipated return to Major League Rugby. One of the competition’s best forwards in the 2019 season, he slots straight into the No3 shirt after arriving from Japan.
A Semi Final now seems out of reach for the SaberCats after securing no points in their home defeats to the Arrows two weeks ago and Old Glory last weekend. In fact the win over the Legion in Week 4 was their last, with their losing streak now up to five games.
There are four changes in all to the side, three up front. Nicolás Solveyra drops out with Charlie Connolly coming in at tighthead prop and Nikolaz Khatiashvili swapping to loosehead. Kody O’Neil replaces Van Stewart in the second row, and Luke Beauchamp returns from injury to lead the side on the flank.
In the backs there is one personnel change and one positional switch. Sam Windsor is restored to the No10 shirt in the absence of Robbie Povey. Taylor Howden finds himself wearing the No15 for the first time, with midfielder Max Tacket called in to the bench.
Mild spring conditions are on the forecast which is good news for San Diego’s dangerous outside backs. They also enjoy home field advantage, greater momentum, and have more at stake with an outside chance at the postseason if they can pull off a run of victories. As such the Legion should be considered clear favorites to beat the Cats.
Kickoff is set for 1pm local time, 3pm Central, 4pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on Fox 5 San Diego, with The Rugby Network streaming worldwide. AT&T SportsNet Southwest will air a delayed broadcast on Sunday.
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Dean Muir, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Joshua Furno, 5 Ben Mitchell, 6 Psalm Wooching, 7 Michael Smith, 8 Jasa Veremalua, 9 Ethan McVeigh, 10 Joe Pietersen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Thomas Morani, 14 Cameron Clark (capt.), 15 Cecil Afrika
Replacements: 16 Peter Malcolm, 17 Cronan Gleeson, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Keni Nasoqeqe, 20 Siaosi Mahoni, 21 Carlo de Nysschen, 22 Tai Enosa, 23 Ryan Matyas
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nikoloz Khatiashvili, 2 Tiaan Erasmus, 3 Charlie Connolly, 4 Kody O’Neil, 5 Jérémy Lenaerts, 6 Luke Beauchamp (capt.), 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Veramu Dikidikilati, 13 Joe Thomas, 14 Jake Hidalgo, 15 Taylor Howden
Replacements: 16 Mike Brown, 17 Liam Murray, 18 Nik Hildebrand, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 Bronson Teles, 21 Zachary Short, 22 Max Tacket, 23 Zack Godfrey
Date: Saturday, May 29
Venue: Elite Athlete Training Center, Chula Vista
Kickoff: 13:00 local (15:00 Central, 16:00 Eastern)
Referee: Derek Summers (USA)
Assistants: Austin Reed (USA) & Alexis Alfaro (USA)
Broadcasts: AT&T SportsNet Southwest (delayed), Fox 5 San Diego, The Rugby Network
Historical Results
2021-04-10 – Houston SaberCats 34, San Diego Legion 32 (AVEVA Stadium)
2019-04-28 – Houston SaberCats 19, San Diego Legion 40 (Dyer Stadium)
2019-02-09 – San Diego Legion 17, Houston SaberCats 13 (Torero Stadium)
2018-05-04 – San Diego Legion 35, Houston SaberCats 32 (Torero Stadium)
